Something quietly corrosive is happening across the travel industry right now - and two stories today illustrate it better than anything else this week.

Airlines are raising fees on the customers who can least avoid them. Hotel programs are quietly rewarding their least loyal guests more than their most loyal ones. And the conventional wisdom that loyalty pays off? It's looking shakier by the day.

Let's get into it.

How much did Southwest originally charge when it first introduced checked bag fees earlier this year?

The answer is waiting near the bottom of today's newsletter... keep scrolling. 👇

It hasn't even been a full year since Southwest ended its legendary bags fly free policy, and the airline is already raising the price it charges to check a bag.

Starting with tickets booked later this week, the cost to check a bag on Southwest jumps from $35 to $45 - a 28% increase in one move. That's a $10 jump per bag, per direction, which adds up fast for a family of four checking luggage on both legs of a trip.

The timeline here is what stings. Southwest spent decades differentiating itself on bags fly free. It was part of the brand identity. They ditched that policy, introduced $35 fees, and have now raised those fees before most customers have even had a chance to adjust.

To be fair, Southwest isn't alone here. Delta raised its bag fees recently too, and United followed. The whole industry is moving in the same direction at the same time. But Southwest built its entire reputation on being different - and that goodwill is evaporating quickly.

If you're flying Southwest and want to avoid bag fees entirely, the math on their co-branded credit card has shifted. Worth running the numbers before your next booking.

For all our Southwest coverage and how these changes affect your points strategy, check out our Southwest stories.

Here's a story that should make every Marriott Bonvoy elite member genuinely angry.

Capital One Shopping data has revealed something deeply uncomfortable about how Marriott treats its most loyal guests: Bonvoy elites are often getting smaller cash rebates than non-members and base-level members booking the exact same properties.

The logic from Marriott's side is coldly rational. If you're a Platinum or Titanium member, they already have you. You're going to book with Marriott anyway. So why offer you a bigger incentive to do the thing you were already going to do?

Non-members and low-tier members, on the other hand, need to be lured in. They're acquisition targets. So Capital One Shopping - and presumably other portal tools - show them better rebates to tip the scale.

This is worth comparing against Hyatt and Hilton, which don't allow hotels to tack on resort or destination fees to standard award stays. Marriott, meanwhile, is letting the Westin LAX charge a $20 cash fee on top of points redemptions. If you're a Bonvoy loyalist, these two data points together paint a pretty clear picture of where you stand in Marriott's priority list.

If you're wondering whether your current Marriott card setup still makes sense, our Marriott card eligibility guide lays out exactly which cards you can still apply for.

For more Marriott stories and program updates, see our full Marriott coverage.

Here's the flip side of all this bad news - a genuine opportunity worth acting on.

Etihad is slashing some fares by up to 50% on routes to and through Abu Dhabi through June, and the reason is pretty straightforward: demand to the UAE has weakened significantly. Emirates and Qatar have not matched the discounts, which means Etihad is out there aggressively trying to fill seats.

This is the interesting angle. When one Gulf carrier drops prices dramatically and its two closest competitors don't follow, it tells you something about where the demand weakness is concentrated. Etihad is feeling the pressure more acutely right now, and that's a window for travelers who are flexible about routing through Abu Dhabi.

If you're planning a trip to Asia, Australia, or anywhere Etihad flies, the cash fare discount is real and worth checking. And if you're considering buying Etihad Guest miles instead, there's currently a 35% discount bringing the cost to 2.08 cents per mile through May 8th.

You can also search Etihad award availability using our Etihad Award Seat Finder to see whether points or cash makes more sense for your specific route.

Rove Miles quietly announced that both Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Red are now 1:1 transfer partners - and it's a legitimately useful addition.

Rove already differentiates itself by letting you earn points on hotel bookings that still earn hotel points and elite status credit simultaneously - which is a genuinely useful double-dip. Adding Virgin Atlantic to the transfer roster expands what you can do with those Rove points considerably.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has some exceptional sweet spots - particularly for booking Delta One business class and ANA flights to Japan. We covered the program in depth recently, and it remains one of the more underrated transfer currencies in the ecosystem.

There's also a live transfer bonus worth flagging here: Citi ThankYou Rewards is currently offering a 30% bonus when you transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and that bonus runs through April 18th. If you're holding Citi points and want to top up your Flying Club balance, this window is closing fast.

See all current transfer bonuses at our transfer bonuses tracker, and check our Virgin Atlantic Reward Seat Finder to see what's available before you transfer.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy went on CNBC yesterday and said the Trump administration is open to airline mergers, framing it with the line that President Trump 'loves to see big deals happen.'

This is a meaningful signal shift from the previous administration, which blocked the JetBlue-Spirit deal and was broadly skeptical of consolidation. Duffy's comments are being read as an opening for deal-making, and the two names everyone's watching are Spirit and JetBlue.

Airline mergers historically create chaos for loyalty programs - point values shift, partner agreements get restructured, and elite status can become awkward to maintain across two merging systems. The Delta-Northwest and United-Continental mergers both caused significant turbulence for frequent flyers in the years following.

Nothing is imminent here - these comments are a signal, not an announcement. But if you have JetBlue TrueBlue points sitting around, it's worth thinking about whether you want to redeem them sooner rather than later while the program is still clearly defined. Use our JetBlue Points Calculator to see what your balance is actually worth.

For all our JetBlue coverage, see our JetBlue stories and for airline news more broadly, check out our airline news tag.

A few time-sensitive items worth calling out before the quick question:

The Capital One Venture Rewards card is currently featuring a limited-time offer of 75,000 bonus miles plus a $250 travel credit after meeting the spending threshold in the first three months - and that offer is reportedly close to expiring. At a $95 annual fee, the first-year value here is exceptional for beginners and seasoned points collectors alike.

On the buy points front: Air France-KLM Flying Blue has an 80% bonus running through April 16th at 1.69 cents per mile - one of the better buy rates we've seen for Flying Blue. And there's also a 100% bonus on Choice Privileges transfers to Flying Blue through April 24th, which stacks nicely if you have Choice points sitting around.

See all current buy points promotions at our buy points tracker.

Award Travel Finder has been tracking some strong Flying Blue redemptions lately - worth checking before you buy if you want to confirm there's availability for your target route before pulling the trigger.

The answer is C - $35 per bag. Southwest introduced checked bag fees at $35 when it ended its bags fly free policy, and has now raised that to $45 - a 28% jump in under a year. For a program that built decades of goodwill on free bags, the speed of this reversal is striking.

That's it for today. The airline industry is clearly in a fee-raising mood right now, and the hotel programs are showing some cracks too. The good news is that transfer bonuses and sale fares are still out there for those paying attention - and that's exactly what we're here for.

See you tomorrow with more. And if a friend forwarded this to you, you can subscribe at milesandpointsdaily.com to get it directly.

If you're planning a redemption, check these out first. Data from Award Travel Finder:

Hotels:

Status Matches & Challenges:

See all status matches →

Browse all award deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share some timely opportunities I've been tracking (courtesy of our friends at AwardTravelFinder). These deals won't last long, so let's dive in.

Airline programs:

Hotel programs:

Other programs:

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Chase Sapphire Reserve: 125,000 points after spending $6,000 in 3 months ($795/yr)

2. Business Gold Card: 100,000 points after spending $15,000 in 3 months ($375/yr)

3. Ink Business Preferred: 100,000 points after spending $8,000 in 3 months ($95/yr)

4. Capital One Venture Rewards: 75,000 points after spending $4,000 in 3 months ($95/yr)

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →